Action Alert-AB 541 will Protect CA farmers from GE contamination-write/call now

[fed-up]

(cross post from LBN) California farmers are one step closer to getting some protection from contamination by genetically engineered crops. Please show your support by writing a letter to the Chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, the Honorable Nicole Parra



Huffman energy, agriculture bills advance

Source: Marin Independent Journal

Huffman energy, agriculture bills advance
Staff Report
Article Launched: 04/11/2007 12:44:09 AM PDT

Two of Assemblyman Jared Huffman's bills moved a step closer to becoming law this week.

AB 541, which would make the manufacturer of genetically engineered crops liable for contamination of surrounding fields, advanced from the Assembly Judiciary Committee Tuesday on a vote of 7-3.

"The bill levels the playing field for victims of contamination and places the responsibility where it belongs on the manufacturer, the entity that owns the GE plant," Huffman said.

The bill will be heard in the Assembly Agriculture Committee on April 25.

..snip

Read more: http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_5639722


this is great news for farmers, please help protect our food supply-how you can help

http://www.calgefree.org/speakout.html

Action Alert — support AB 541 —

Assemblymember Jared Huffman (6th AD) has introduced AB 541, The Food and Farm Protection Act. The bill would establish California's only state laws related to genetic engineering (GE) in agriculture and protect California farmers, consumers, and the food supply. AB 541 already has the support of many agricultural, environmental, health, faith and business organizations.

Please register your support for this bill by mailing or faxing a letter to the Assembly Agriculture Committee. A sample letter is provided below.

For more information on this issue, a copy of the full text of the bill, and a sample letter of support for AB 541, please go to www.gepolicyalliance.org .

OVERVIEW OF AB 541

The State of California has no policies regulating GE crops, and the federal government is failing in its oversight role. Given this regulatory void, eight counties attempted to pass local restrictions on GE crops, four of which now have county bans or moratoria on GE crop production in place. In the 2005/06 legislative session, biotechnology and agribusiness interests sponsored a bill that would have pre-empted local authority over GE, but failed due to a groundswell of opposition from grassroots organizations, citizens, and elected officials around the state. AB 541 will put in place a coherent policy that addresses the risk of GE contamination, without banning any GE crop.

AB 541 protects California farmers and the food supply in four ways:

Establishes the right of farmers and landowners to compensation for economic losses due to genetic contamination of their crops.

Protects farmers from being sued by a GE manufacturer if their crop is contaminated by that company's GE product.

Establishes a county-level GE crop notification process so that farmers can trace contamination to the GE manufacturer.

Protects the food supply by prohibiting the open-field cultivation of genetically engineered food crops used to produce drugs and biologics such as hormones and antibiotics.
To read a longer summary of the issue, please refer to the Position Paper posted on the web site of the Genetic Engineering Policy Alliance www.gepolicyalliance.org .

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Register your support for AB 541 by sending a letter to the Chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, the Honorable Nicole Parra. A sample letter is included below, though it is best to include your own statements and perspectives if possible.

Letters can be sent by fax to [phone]
or by regular mail to the address in the letter below.
It is very important that Assemblymember Huffman's office also receive a copy of your letter. Please send a copy for their records Attn: Rebecca Darling ([e-mail] or fax [phone]).





excellent article below
http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_5621970

Biologically altered produce pits grower against grower

By Steve Johnson, MEDIANEWS STAFF
Article Last Updated: 04/08/2007 09:16:18 AM PDT

..snip

But if Fiorovich's Crystal Bay Farm was contaminated by wind, birds or people accidentally spreading the altered seeds or pollen, his ability to learn the source and seek legal damages would be severely limited. City, county and state authorities in California typically aren't told the specific locations of genetically manipulated plants.

Only the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service gathers such data, and it usually doesn't share it with state officials because farmers say that would compromise their confidential business information.

The federal agency also generally doesn't track where such crops are grown, only where farmers conduct initial tests of such crops in their fields. And even then, it often fails to determine the specific locations of such tests, according to a December 2005 report by the U.S. Inspector General.

Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, has introduced a bill, AB 541, that would require farmers to notify local county agricultural commissioners within 30 days of planting or testing genetically altered crops. It also would declare gene-manipulated plant contaminations that cause more than $3,500 in losses to be a nuisance, making it easier for organic farmers and others to sue.



some good news about ge crops in California
http://www.sacbee.com/103/story/149696.html

Biotech rice pact reached
Panel will allow test variety only in a distant county, with other restrictions.
By Jim Downing - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:29 am PDT Thursday, April 5, 2007
Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page D1

In a compromise on an issue that has riled the nation's rice farmers, a state panel on Wednesday authorized an outdoor test planting of biotech rice but restricted it to a site hundreds of miles from the nearest commercial fields.

An undisclosed biotechnology firm had asked the board for permission to plant its genetically modified rice in Fresno County, but the board ordered that the rice be planted only in Imperial County, and required that the crop be harvested with a dedicated set of farm equipment, among other restrictions.

The case was the first test of a state moratorium on biotech rice called for last month by the 40-member California Rice Commission board, which represents both rice processors and roughly 2,500 rice farming businesses.


That moratorium made the commission the first major commodity crop organization in the nation to take such a strong position against genetic engineering.

..snip

[roody]

1. Will do!!!

[kestrel91316]

2. We need this sort of thing in ALL 50 STATES! Biological pollution

is no less a form of pollution than chemical. And every bit as much a Pandora's Box.